What You Need To Know About Juvenile Dependency

By Essie Osborn


Cases of neglect and abuse towards children by parents or guardians normally have their special treatment in a court of law. These are normally put under special proceedings of juvenile dependency. The main goal is to ensure that children are protected as well as ensuring that families are reunited. The court is therefore designated with the task of determining the validity of the abuse and neglect claims against children.

The court also needs to identify if the child should be dependent to it or just left to stay with the family. Nevertheless, the final decision is usually left to the victim. If he/she is not interested in returning to the family, the court acts on that interest. A foster family or guardian is then selected for the child.

The court works in conjunction with various community partners to take care of the parents whose children are made dependent to the court. For instance, it offers treatment programs to parents with drug-related problems. Similarly, a dependency drug department can also be designed to handle parents with serious problems

Organizations such as County Counsels, Dependency Legal Groups, Health and Human Service Agencies, and Alcohol and Drug Service departments are among those partners that work together with the court. There are other volunteers as well who assist the court in taking care of the dependent children. The dependency court normally operates in a certain special way. For example, a dependency case is usually expected to appear at the court once they have taken away the child from the family.

If the child has been taken away, the court notifies the parent on when to appear at the court. This is done by social workers who have to contact the parent as well as inform him/her about the date and time to appear at the court. The dependency hearings, however, are only determined by the type of the case at hand. Generally, the court is responsible for protecting the rights of both the family and the child as well as ensuring that they are exercised in line with the law.

The court has also to ensure that the government undertakes its responsibilities as well as appointing a lawyer to represent other parties in the hearing. During the hearing session the court has to put a number of factors related to the case into consideration. For instance, it may have to consider severity of the claims, age of the child, and reports by the police or social worker.

The court of law also has to look into the arguments by the attorney, psychiatric and medical records, and the history of the family. It also ensures that each party to the case is represented by a lawyer in every case. Only a certain number of people are allowed to testify in a dependency case. These include; doctors, teachers, police officers, witnesses, social workers and the victim.

Normally, the Social Service Agency is the one that initiates hearings. The petition is used to identify the parties involved in the case and the claims of abuse and neglect filed against the child. Thereafter, the clerk of the court files a petition and assigns a case for an initial hearing at the courtroom.




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